What Walt Jocketty wants for the holidays…

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Not exactly a right handed power hitter, is he? But MLB Trade Rumors says Jocketty may go a-courtin’ for the speedy and light hitting center fielder.

Now, the sad thing is Taveras’ .250 average from last year would be about a 50 point improvement over last year’s model, Corey Patterson. Taveras has an off year last year, too, but managed a VORP of 2 (nothing great, but Patterson’s was -18.9. Basically, a blond sheep dog would contribute almost 19 more runs that Patterson did).

Bill James projects Taveras to hit around .280 this year with no power and about 60 steals. Could the Reds use a guy like this? Kind of. But it means the OF consists of Bruce, Taveras, and a combination of Dickerson and Hopper unless then sign that big right hand bat they wanted from somewhere.

The other rumor is the Reds will look at Ty Wigginton at 3B and move Encarnacion into the OF. I can see the Reds signing both Wigs and a power hitting OF and then trading Edwin before the season starts. It’s too bad, because I like Eddie E, but his major liability is defense. And on a team that probably won’t score a lot of runs, they’ll need all the D they can get.